Network administrators may manage large numbers of secure communication protocols, for example Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) certificates. Sometimes administration is relatively simple. For example, in some cases, administrators may be limited to sending emails regarding certificate renewals and processing new identification requests.
One method of managing certificates provides a tool for administrators to control reminders. For example, an administrator uses the tool to set a 90 day, 60 day, 30 day, or 7 day reminder. The reminder then sends an automated email reminder to, for example, the certificate owner.
The tool is a useful way for administrators to set reminders, however it removes administrators from the context of the page within which they were working to establish the reminder. For example, an administrator may be viewing a page showing a number of certificates with corresponding owners, expiration dates, IP addresses, security ratings, etc. The administrator might then want to make a change to a particular certificate. In order to make the change, the administrator needs go to a separate page, thus removing the administrator from the original page. After making the change, the administrator then needs to navigate back to the original page. Another problem is that the administrator may need access to information that was on the original page in order to set the reminder—another inconvenience if the administrator needs to navigate away from the page to establish a reminder.
Even for relatively simple administrative tasks, the back and forth navigation between pages adds considerable time to an administrator's work. In addition, many administrators have increased responsibilities. For example, administrators need to know if sensors are up or down, the progress of scans, the completion of scans, etc. Again, moving between pages that an administrator is working on, and additional pages needed to make changes, increases the time required to complete jobs. As administrative tasks become more complex, providing administrators with quicker access to tools, more control, and new flexibility can increase efficiency.